Mercy
by Frost Deejn
Summary: Kira and Odo repair their friendship with a long conversation in Jadzia's closet. Set during the episode "You Are Cordially Invited..."


My own version of Kira and Odo's conversation in Jadzia's closet. I read the version in _Worlds of Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Dominion_, but I don't think it fit either character very well. For example, Odo should have done considerably more groveling.

Disclaimer: I did not make up Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, or the characters which appear therein. This fanfic is based on the episode "You Are Cordially Invited..." written by Ronald D. Moore.

**Mercy**

Kira Nerys enjoyed the sensation of the station being under Federation control again. Seeing humans and Bajorans--and of course Dax--around her in Ops instead of Cardassians and Vorta was very refreshing. To add to her sense of well-being, the station was running smoothly for a change.

She heard the door hiss open, and her mood fell even before she confirmed her suspicion of the new arrival's identity. She carefully composed her face before trusting herself to look up...into the eyes of Odo.

"The report you requested, Major." His voice betrayed nothing. No one else in the room even glanced in their direction. But he wouldn't meet her eyes. His body posture told her that he was anxious to escape.

"Thank you, Odo," she replied with an equal professionalism. _He saved our lives,_ she reminded herself. But some part of her was still angry. Her anger manifested itself, though she didn't know if she couldn't help it or if she allowed it, as a nearly-undetectable chill in her voice. "That will be all."

Odo looked like he'd been stabbed with a Breen icicle, but he didn't let the expression linger for more than a second. "You're welcome," he managed, then he left Ops without looking back.

Now Nerys felt troubled. Odo's reaction had caused her to feel momentary shame and triumph. The shame had been for still being angry at him, and for the way she'd treated him when he tried to apologize, back when the station had still been occupied. The triumph had been that familiar thrill Nerys got from hurting her enemies. This realization was what bothered her.

_You're not my enemy, Odo_, she told herself, and mostly believed it. He had saved their lives, after all. He had chosen to stay on the station when the Founder left. But still, the fact that he betrayed them haunted her, as did his callous words to her afterward. _That's the reason I'm still angry: what he said to me. I'm not angry about the betrayal; he made up for that when he saved us. It was what he said to me afterward. We were friends...he was supposed to be in love with me! He thinks...he thought I don't understand the Link because I'm not a changeling...well he's right. How could I? But I DO understand how important it is to HIM! I'm his closest friend! Does he think I don't know or care about what matters to him? _Thinking about it was bringing the pain and anger back to the surface. She took a deep breath and pushed it from her mind. _I have work to do.

* * *

_

Odo reread his latest criminal activities report. There wasn't much. He had, in fact, finished all his real work over an hour earlier, but working was the only thing that kept his mind off Kira.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Constable."

"Goodnight Arkra," Odo mumbled.

Security Officer Arkra Woidil was a physically unremarkable Bajoran man of average height and build. Extraordinary only in his ordinariness, he could have hidden in a crowd like an Earth stick insect in a pile of twigs. Utterly forgettable and nearly unnoticeable, he was good at overhearing things. He was also a bright and competent investigator, and Odo trusted and respected him almost as much as Arkra did Odo. Arkra was not only loyal to his superior officer, but genuinely fond of the gruff, antisocial changeling, and he liked to think he could read him better than anyone. Which was why Arkra wasn't leaving; he just stood in the door looking at Odo.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he said at last.

"Talk about what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you."

Odo looked up into the expression of concern. "No, Arkra. Thank you, but this is something I have to deal with on my own."

Arkra knew that pushing it wouldn't accomplish anything, so he just nodded. He wasn't exactly sure what was troubling Odo, but he strongly suspected it had to do with the occupation, the Founder, and/or Major Kira. "Just remember," he said uncertainly, "that you do have friends, and we would be willing to risk our lives for you, much less lend a sympathetic ear when you have something to get off your mind."

"Thank you," Odo said, giving no indication of how moved he was by the sentiment. "You may go now, Arkra."

The deputy turned to leave, but then another thought occurred to him. "Sir, remember what I said about how I use personal logs to help me sort out my thoughts? If you don't want to confide in a person, you can always talk at a machine." Odo gave him an exasperated look. Arkra shrugged. "Just a thought." He then finally completed his exit.

Odo went back to searching for any work to do, but his mind kept wandering. After a few minutes, he gave up, paced his office for a while, then looked out over the Promenade. Major Kira walked by without sparing a glance in his direction. Odo watched her until she vanished around a corner, then he walked to the computer at the back of his office.

"Chief of Security's Personal Log: Stardate 51245.8." He paused. "Station life is returning to normal. Since the liberation, the residents of Deep Space Nine have been in a...celebratory mood. For the most part," he added ruefully. He took a long moment to decide what to say next. "I, in contrast, can't get over...the guilt I feel." It was a difficult admission, even to a machine. "I betrayed my friends," he continued. "I turned my back on them. They needed me...they were counting on me, and I..." he closed his eyes, and opened them again slowly. "I would have let them die. And now I've lost everything I ever stood for. I've committed not only disloyalty, but irresponsibility, and injustice. I've lost their trust, and their friendship..." he finally addressed what hurt him most deeply. "I've lost _her. _How could I have thought, even for an instant, that she no longer mattered to me? Now everything I built with her is broken, every chance I might have had with her...lost. She will never look at me again...not without that hate in her eyes..." He recalled the way she'd looked at him when she rejected his apology. "Her fiery eyes, pinning on me that _name_, that worst invective in this former freedom fighter's vocabulary: collaborator--in one word an accusation, an insult, and a curse. I've lost her forever. And I still love her. Is that part of my punishment, that I love her so deeply? To her I have no defenses; her hatred can cut me to the very core of my being with no resistence. And the worst part is, I deserve it. I would say I deserve worse, but what could be worse? To me, no weapon, no punishment, no torment...could possibly hurt more than that look...from _those_ eyes." He plopped heavily in his chair, his focus far from the room around him. "I betrayed her. I betrayed them all. I believed that because of what I am--because I'm a changeling--I'm somehow superior to them. But from the perspective of justice, which I have served for much of my life, people should be judged not by what they are, but by what they do. They were willing to sacrifice their lives for the _freedom_ of the Federation--to preserve an abstract concept for people they will never know...and I was willing to let them die, for my own entirely selfish reasons. I see now that I'm inferior to them. I'm...unworthy..." he couldn't continue. If he had to breathe, he would have been choking on his emotions. "Computer," he said in a strained whisper, "delete last word of log entry." It beeped its compliance. He considered for a moment, then said "Computer, delete this _entire_ log entry."

* * *

Jadzia's idea to have her wedding on the station couldn't have come at a better time, Nerys thought. After enduring months of Dominion rule, the station needed a party. And this one was epic. Nerys hadn't had so much fun since... 

While she was still trying to remember the last time she'd had so much fun, she heard the door to Jadzia's quarters open. She turned to see who it was.

Odo.

Surprisingly, she felt almost no emotional reaction. He wasn't enough to ruin her mood, at least.

He, however, looked uncomfortable. "I've been getting complaints about the noise," he explained. "Someone even mentioned a fight."

Of course he wouldn't _willingly_ attend a party, Kira mentally noted in mild amusement. "There was a scuffle between Morn and one of the Bolians, but they worked it out."

"How long will this party continue?" He didn't seem eager to infringe on anyone's good time.

"This party will continue until further notice on the personal authority of the station's first officer, who just happens to be me," she replied smugly.

He glanced at her. "You're in a good mood."

"Well it's a good party."

Odo nodded. He made a move to exit, but Kira stopped him. She had decided, on the spur of the moment, that she was in a good enough mood to start patching things up with him, and she wasn't going to let the opportunity pass.

"Odo...I think we have a lot to talk about," she said in sudden seriousness.

"I agree." Was that a flicker of hope in his eyes?

"So let's talk."

He looked around at the party. "_Now?_"

"I think we've put it off for long enough. Don't you?"

Odo turned to his deputies and dismissed them with a gesture. "Enjoy yourselves."

They weren't about to argue with that order. Especially not Arkra, who had been disappointed that the party conflicted with his work schedule.

Kira led Odo off to find a quiet place for their little chat. A quiet place, however, proved an elusive quarry; they ended up in the bedroom closet. For nearly a full minute, the two former friends just sat in silence, each trying to remember what they had planned out to say.

"Let me start," Odo finally requested.

"All right," Kira said with relief.

Odo blinked slowly, sighed, and blurted it out. "I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Major. I know what I did...what I said...are unforgivable, but I _am_ sorry." He couldn't look at her, and instead studied the floor between his feet. "I was wrong. I've never been more wrong in my entire life." He paused, but not long enough to give Kira a chance to say anything. "I was selfish and irresponsible. I betrayed Rom, I betrayed the Federation, I betrayed the Alpha Quadrant, and most of all I betrayed you. And I betrayed myself: your friendship meant more to me than anything, even the Great Link, and I don't know how I lost sight of that. I know I've lost your trust, but, Kira, please believe that my loyalty is still--as it has been for most of the past five years--to you first. I can never amend for my betrayal, but I swear to you I'll do whatever I can to make this right. If you want me to leave the station, I'll go. If you want me to turn myself over to Starfleet, just say the word. Kira, even at the cost of my life, I'm yours to command." He lowered his head until his chin nearly touched his chest, trying to make her see how worthless he felt...worthless, but not useless. He could only hope she understood.

She stared at him. Those were more words than she could remember him ever speaking at one time, and she couldn't quite work out how they made her feel: touched? regretful? frightened? She was completely lost in the sea of his sincere remorse, and his unambiguous vow of devotion. His head was still down, but clearly he'd said what he needed to say, and was now waiting for her. "Odo..." she said quietly, "you saved our lives."

Still without looking at her, he yanked his head sideways in a nonverbal equivalent of his trademark humph. "That doesn't make up for it. Not even close."

"I agree," Kira admitted reluctantly, "but I don't blame you...entirely...for what you did. I know how important your people are to you. If I had never seen Bajor, and had been separated from my own people for my entire life, I would probably do almost anything to connect with them. The Founder knew that about you. She knew it was a weak point, and she used it to manipulate you, just as I was afraid she would."

Odo shook his head. "It was my fault..." he almost said_ Nerys_, but stopped before he could let the informal name escape his lips. He didn't deserve to speak that name. "I shouldn't have...I didn't have to let her influence me. And I certainly shouldn't have let her use my feeling for you against me."

"She found out about your feelings for me through the Link?"

Odo hesitated. "Not really...not at first. She knew...because I told her."

"Why? When?" She wasn't so much upset as surprised. Odo usually kept his feelings to himself.

"Do you remember," Odo said slowly, "when she used a Marquis ship to trick us into landing on that moon, and she pretended to be you...and convinced me that you were dying?"

Dawning comprehension lit her face. "Ah. You told her when you thought she was me."

"I lied when I told you it was coincidence that she chose to impersonate you. She already suspected that my connection to you contributed to my decision to not rejoin the Link, and she wanted to know for sure. In the hours I spent with her during her charade, she tried to elicit my true feelings for you, though I didn't realize that until I looked back on our interaction later. I even told her the story of how I got my name."

"What does your name have to do with it?"

"My name is derived from the Cardassian word for 'nothing'. That's what they labeled me as in the laboratory...when I was nothing but an unknown substance in a dish."

Kira looked at him with deep sympathy, but Odo's eyes were focused elsewhere. If he had noticed, doubtless he would have been touched. Though if anyone else had given him such a look, he would have been mortified.

"I told her...how I had thought the name was so appropriate. I felt like I was nothing, like I didn't really matter to anyone, and my name was a constant reminder of that. But that changed when I met you. The first time you said my name, it ceased to mean 'nothing'." Odo realized that he had no reason to tell her that part, except that he wanted her to know it. Was he trying to manipulate her? He'd sworn to himself that he wouldn't, that he would only tell her the truth, no matter how self-incriminating. But then, even though it wasn't self-incriminating, it was still true. And he had a right to tell her the _whole _truth. "It wasn't until she ordered me to abandon her--you--that I revealed the full extent of my feelings for you." Odo lowered his head even more. "Remember how I told you that I figured out she wasn't you when she said something I knew you would never say. Well she said . . . that you loved me in return."

Kira tried to imagine how it must have been for Odo: his first confession of love made to a dying woman, whom he later found out was an imposter. Why hadn't he told her after that? It was a perfect opportunity. She recalled another Odo--an Odo two hundred years older, who had sacrificed his existence and that of eight thousand other people to save her--who had declared his love to a woman that had been long dead in his timeline. She'd seen the love in his eyes when he gazed at her. This Odo in front of her must have loved her with equal intensity. How could he have kept it secret for so long? How could he have sacrificed that to become one with their enemy?

On the other hand, how could she have turned her back on him?

"I should have listened to you when you tried to apologize before. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like I did," Kira said.

"Yes you should have. I deserved it. Besides . . . your anger toward me helped me realize what I was doing. Helped me find the strength to resist her."

"But you were already doing that. That's why you tried to apologize."

"It wasn't enough." Odo took a deep artificial breath. He'd vowed to himself to tell her everything, but it wasn't easy.

"Odo, there's something else you want to tell me. Just say it."

"I...The Founder and I...we...we were...intimate."

When Kira said nothing, Odo allowed himself to raise his eyes enough to see her reaction. She didn't seem to have had one.

Their eyes met. She lifted her hands, which were lying folded on her lap, in a gesture akin to a shrug. "And?"

Odo sat up a little. "You knew?"

"I suspected as much."

"And you're not angry?" Odo couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed by this.

"Not really. I mean, you linked with her. How much worse could things get?" She sounded as if this should have been obvious to both of them.

Odo dropped his head again. He had misjudged Kira: she understood changelings better than he'd given her credit for. This made him even more ashamed. "I underestimated how much you still meant to me. And I think _she_ did, too. Otherwise she never would have told me that you'd been arrested and sentenced to death." He sat perfectly, statue-still, a sharp contrast to his hidden turmoil. "I couldn't let that happen."

A glimmer of confusion crossed Kira's face. "But that happened after you came to me to apologize. Something else must have changed your mind."

Odo nodded slowly. "Something the Founder said. I mentioned to her that solids value their freedom, and she said we would have to 'break' you of that." He paused. "Of course, I immediately thought of you. You fought the Cardassians for years to gain your freedom. I couldn't imagine you being 'broken'." Unexpected anger tinged his voice. "The thought of _you_ being made into a servile Vorta or a fighting machine like a Jem'hadar...I'm sorry, but I would prefer that they kill you, and I'm sure you would force them to that if they tried."

"Yes, I would." She frowned and looked at him with a troubled expression. "I thought about killing you, you know."

"Of course you did. You would have, if you had the opportunity and I left you no other choice. And you would have done it yourself."

She nodded, then realized Odo couldn't see it, and instead replied, "I'm glad it didn't come to that."

His voice was soft and warm. "So am I."

Neither spoke for several seconds, then Kira straightened up, her face firm with resolve. "That settles it. I forgive you."

Odo's head shot up and he looked at her in shock. "Wh...? Why?"

Though she only raised her voice a little, she spoke with a fiery passion. "Because we've been through too much together for me to let _this_ destroy us! Because I'm not going to let _her_ have even the minor victory of alienating your friends from you!" She paused to let her passion cool, but when she continued, her slow, clear words had a subdued intensity that was no less emotional. "And because you mean too much to me for me to let you let this destroy you."

Odo shook his head in disbelief. "But how can you forgive me so easily? I know how much I hurt you..."

"We've hurt each other before. We've lied to each other before. We've failed each other before. We've worked it out."

"You mean when you lied to me about killing Vaatrik? When I lied to you about condemning innocent Bajorans when the Cardassians ran the station? Major, with all due respect, this is betrayal on an entirely different level."

"True," she said simply. "But I still forgive you. This isn't a conscious choice; I just do."

"I betrayed you..." he said rather piteously.

"And you saved me. And even after that, you could have fled the station with the Founder, but you chose to stay. And I'm sure she would consider it a lovely consolation prize if your closest friends turn against you now, and I'm not going to give her that satisfaction. I'm sorry Odo, I know how you feel about your people, but I still can't forgive her for what she's done to you in the past..."

"No, you're right, Major. I'm sure that was her intention. She doesn't want to drag me back to the Great Link as a prisoner; she wants me to return of my own accord." He shook his head again. "But that doesn't explain how you can forgive me."

"Don't try to explain it. It's not rational. I just do."

"Then you're stronger than I could ever be." His head drooped again.

Kira reached her hand out to his chin, and gently lifted his head until their eyes met. She deliberately held him there by the power of his love for her. "Odo," she said softly but clearly, "I forgive you."

His voice was a whisper, filled with pain. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"I'll keep on saying it until you believe it."

"I didn't ask you to forgive me."

"I know. Maybe I wouldn't have forgiven you if you had asked. But you want to." She had seen it in his eyes, and heard it in his words. Indeed, every movement he made since he sat down had cried out for her forgiveness. She continued soothingly, "You can ask, if you need to. We're friends, Odo. We work these things out."

"Forgive me, Major," he implored. His small voice shook.

"I forgive you, Odo. And I trust you. I still trust you with my life." She finally lowered her hand from his chin, and he continued looking at her. She smiled that smile which always warmed him, and he felt his unhappiness melt away beneath it. "Besides, that expression on your face whenever I say it is just so cute."

He laughed at that, then looked at her tenderly. He didn't know words sufficient to express how amazing this woman was. And she was so close: her beautiful face less than a meter away, smiling her smile. For the first time that night, he began to wonder if he hadn't lost any chance of having anything more than friendship with her. Maybe someday...

But not tonight. That would be asking for too much. Tonight would only be about repairing their friendship. Still, it would take such a small physical effort to lean a little closer and kiss those smiling lips...

Odo quickly looked away. He didn't know what to say next, but he had to say something. "I'm glad we had this talk." Wrong thing, he realized as soon as the words left his mouth. That sounded like they were done, and he really didn't want to be done. He wanted to be close to her for as long as possible. That had been one of the first things that made him suspect he was in love with her, in fact.

"What's so funny?" she asked at his wry grin.

"Nothing. I was just remembering that time a few days after you came to the station, after the Cardassian withdrawal, when you thanked me for saving those two workers trapped in the collapse in Cargo Bay Five. That was the first time we really talked after your arrival. I was just thinking...how far we've come from then."

Kira nodded. "I remember that. Colonial Jorak couldn't praise you enough. Remember the way he introduced us? He would have been shocked if we'd let on we met before."

"Yes, he certainly would have," Odo agreed. They both smiled at the memory. Colonial Jorak was the loquacious and overwhelmingly assertive Bajoran who had escorted Major Kira on what he assumed was her first day on Deep Space Nine. He'd taken it upon himself to introduce her to everyone, a task which included a formal meeting between the future first officer and the chief of security, during which Jorak had gushed about the merits of both at length and with unsubstantiated conviction. Odo's official welcome to Kira had been only a footnote to Jorak's monologue. "I guess I've failed in my promise to make your stay on Deep Space Nine as pleasant as possible."

"You've done well enough. That Jorak was quite a character. I wonder what he's doing with himself these days."

"Probably exercising his rhetorical skills in the capital," Odo speculated.

Kira's smile became more subdued. "He didn't exaggerate about one thing, at least: those two men would have died if it weren't for you."

"Oh, I'm sure you would have come up with another solution," Odo said modestly.

"But probably not in time." She sat back, stretching out her back and legs. When she continued, she actually sounded shy. "That was the first time I ever saw you shapeshift. I thought it was beautiful."

It had been a first for Odo, as well: when she came to his office to thank him that night, she had touched him for the first time, squeezing his shoulder in a gesture of appreciation. After she walked out, he examined the place where her hand had been, wondering why it felt so strange, and why he hadn't wanted her to leave. Only later did it occur to him that he might be experiencing what humanoids referred to as falling in love. He wondered for weeks if it really was love he felt for her, or just a combination of friendship, respect, admiration, fondness, and gratitude. He deduced that he was in love when he ran out of alternate explanations for the way he felt about her, a matter of applying his investigative skills to his own feelings.

"I don't suppose you remember a woman named Sylrem Aafindorandin?" Kira asked suddenly.

It took Odo a moment to come out of his reverie, and then another moment to scan his memory for the name. "Yes...a young woman who lived in the village I went to right after leaving the laboratory. She was...kind. To me, at least."

"I met her a few weeks after my first visit to Terok Nor. Did you know she was in the resistence?"

"I had no idea. That's not exactly something Bajorans advertised, at the time."

"No, it wasn't. I knew because she was a distant cousin of Shakaar..."

"_Was?_ Did something happen to her?"

"She was killed by an Obsidian Order assassin about two months before the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Odo said. He hadn't thought about the woman in quite some time, but she had been one of the first solids to treat him as anything other than a lab specimen or a freak, though they hadn't been what anyone would consider friends. "She must have been important, if the Cardassians held her in high enough regard to send an assassin after her."

"It was an act of revenge," Kira explained. "Aafindorandin had embarrassed the Cardassian military, especially one Gul Pelek. She boarded a prison transport under his command with a bomb, which she threatened to detonate--which would have killed _everyone_ on board, including seventeen Bajoran prisoners and herself, as well as Pelek and his crew--unless the prisoners were released. Pelek eventually agreed to the terms, as soon as he was convinced she wasn't bluffing. The leader of her resistence cell was one of the prisoners."

"I see," Odo said. "She must have been a very brave woman. That sounds like something you would do."

"She was an asset to the resistence," Kira said reverentially, then moved on. "When we met, I told her about my experience on Terok Nor, my near-capture. She told me she'd met you. She described you as being 'made of mysteries'. When I saw you shapeshift, that phrase played in my head."

"I think Zutor would have agreed. He once called me 'an enigma incarnate'."

"Who's Zutor?" Kira asked.

"Have I never told you about Zobias Zutor?" Odo asked curiously.

"No. That's a Cardassian name..."

"He was one of my deputies when I was Terok Nor's chief of security. Unfortunately, he got on the wrong side of Gul Dukat, and was transferred back to Cardassia."

"Wrong side of Dukat? I like him already."

"You might actually have liked him, Major. He was unique among my deputies for caring more about justice than about furthering Cardassia's interests. He was also the quietest Cardassian I've ever met. He could go entire days without speaking so much as a word to me. He was a bookworm, and something of a joke among his peers. Perhaps we got along so well because we were both, to some extent, outcasts. One day, when I was sitting in Quarks--watching for any sign of unlawfulness, as usual--Zutor came in and sat across the table from me. I could tell he was upset about something, but he didn't say a word. We sat there in complete silence for almost an hour, then he stood up and left, still without speaking, but I could tell he felt better, and I had enjoyed his company."

"Did you ever find out what was wrong with him?"

Odo nodded, smiling a small, ironic smile. "A Bajoran woman. He met her when we brought her in for questioning on a crime she was quickly cleared of. He'd fallen in love before we were even done with the interrogation, but he spent weeks agonizing over whether he should talk to her or not. Finally, he worked up the courage to ask her to dinner. She spat in his face and told him she would die before becoming some Cardassian's comfort woman."

"What happened to her?" Kira asked, caught up in the story.

"Nothing. Zutor never talked to her again, as far as I know. She continued to live on the station long after he left."

Kira found herself sympathizing with the jilted Cardassian. "Why did Zutor leave the station?"

"He embarrassed Dukat during a security briefing. Dukat was on one of his self-aggrandizing lectures. Zutor, who as I said hardly spoke a word, especially in official meetings, interrupted Dukat's speech to recommend that he try keeping his repetitions to a reasonable limit if he wanted his officers to stay awake during his meetings."

Kira started laughing. "He _said_ that? To _Dukat!_"

Odo nodded, and then he started laughing, too. "Even the other Cardassians thought it was funny. Dukat adjourned the meeting right then and didn't say a word about it, but a week later Zutor was sent back to Cardassia. I lodged an official commendation of his service, which helped him get a promotion. I lost touch with him when Cardassia joined the Dominion."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kira commiserated. She decided to steer the conversation away from a potentially unhappy subject. "That reminds me of something that happened at one of Shakaar's mission briefings. Mubara had been home sick for a week when..."

Kira was halfway through her anecdote when the closet door suddenly opened. She and Odo looked up in surprise at Jadzia. Worf stood a ways behind her, looking not the least bit happy.

"Hi," said Kira, because she couldn't think of anything else to say that would make them being in her closet seem any less ridiculous.

"Hi," Jadzia replied. She looked tired and hung-over, and yet amused.

"Is the party over?" Odo asked.

"You could say that: it's ten-thirty."

Kira's eyebrows arched. "In the _morning_?"

Jadzia nodded.

Kira hurriedly stood up. "I'm on duty."

"So am I." Odo followed her.

"Great party," Kira commented as she walked out.

"Thanks," Jadzia called after her.

Odo and Kira rushed to catch a turbolift. They ordered their destinations, then looked at each other silently. A sincere, shy smile blossomed on Kira's face. Odo returned it.

"I hope this means we're friends again," he said.

"Absolutely." She gave his hand a quick squeeze. The turbolift halted and its doors opened. "See you later, Odo."

"Goodbye Nerys." He gazed at her smiling face until the doors closed again.


End file.
